The News Review:
- Stakes High for Las Vegas Water Czar
- Sheila confident of getting more water from UP
- HYDERABAD: Protest over water shortage leads to road blockade
- Water Crisis Hits Baghdad
- The wrath of 2007: America’s great drought
Stakes High for Las Vegas Water Czar
NPR – Jun 11, 2007
She got neighboring states to stop fighting in court over the Colorado River. And she actually persuaded the states to work together on resolving Western water disputes. Rita Maguire was head of Arizona’s Department of Water Resources at the time — one of Mulroy’s competitors. She says Mulroy had a way of convincing them all that they would have to sink or swim together. “Her constant poking at people, moving them out of their comfort zone, caused us all to think more creatively and to push the envelope fairly quickly,” Maguire says. One of Mulroy’s more creative concepts involved increasing Las Vegas’ water supply without diminishing anyone else’s. She came up with a system called “return-flow credits,” which allowed wastewater from the city to be treated, then returned to Lake Mead and used again…
One of Mulroy’s more creative concepts involved increasing Las Vegas’ water supply without diminishing anyone else’s. She came up with a system called “return-flow credits,” which allowed wastewater from the city to be treated, then returned to Lake Mead and used again. Return-flow credits increased southern Nevada’s water supply by one-third. Conservation Innovations Mulroy also was able to convince members of the casino industry that they could be innovators and leaders in water conservation. Casino owner Steve Wynn built a water recycling plant in the early 1990s, underneath the Mirage Volcano and the Treasure Island Pirate Lagoon. The MGM Mirage company installed low-flow bathroom fixtures inside its 11 Las Vegas hotels and drip irrigation outside. Now, that corporation is building a new 3,000-room resort, office and retail complex called City Center and piloting a number of innovative “green” features, including state-of-the-art low-level flush toilets.
Sheila confident of getting more water from UP
Hindu – Jun 11, 2007
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is confident that the talks would help in securing release of more water from U. Incidentally, the 140 MGD plant has been functioning at only about 60 MGD capacity over the past few months due to short supply of raw water…
Incidentally, the 140 MGD plant has been functioning at only about 60 MGD capacity over the past few months due to short supply of raw water. Amicable solution “I will be definitely holding talks on this issue later this month and we are hopeful that just the way the transport standoff was resolved amicable between the two States, so too would this issue of water distribution be settled to the satisfaction of both sides,” she said. The supply of water for the Sonia Vihar plant assumes significance since it supplies water to large parts of East and South Delhi. Though the plant became operational last summer, due to shortage of raw water supply it was not able to provide relief to those people for whom securing adequate water supply remains probably the most important job of the day. Also, while the plant had become operational most of the underground reservoirs were not ready and so most of the raw water ended up running back into the Yamuna. But now that 21 of the 28 underground reservoirs are expected to the completed and made operational by December 2007, it has become important that the raw water supplies are secured so that the capacities of the reservoirs do not lie unutilised. Water from the Sonia Vihar plant is expected to greatly augment the supply in the Capital as at present only about 700 MGD of water is produced as against the demand for around 900 MGD.
HYDERABAD: Protest over water shortage leads to road blockade
Pakistan Dawn – Jun 11, 2007
The protesters said that they were not getting water for the last one week. The complained that tankers supplying water to the area could not cater to their needs. They said supply through water supply lines should be improved. The taluka nazim informed them that water supply was hit by since the area is located at tail-end of supply network. The scenario got complicated with continued load-shedding by Hesco, he added. To cool down the protesters, he summoned the executive engineer of WASA and invited protesters’ leaders to accompany them to sort out the matter. HESCO: Power outage by Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) during the current heatwave has become a permanent problem.
Water Crisis Hits Baghdad
Environment News Service – Jun 11, 2007
Jihad also pointed out that the use of private generators due to the frequent power cuts has increased the demand for fuel, so much so that it has put pressure on the limited capacities of Iraq refineries. As a result of pipeline sabotage and security restrictions, Baghdad receives three-quarters of the four million litres of fuel it needs every day, according to al-Hattab. Meanwhile, Baghdadis are forced to find their own water supply. Those who can afford it try to dig wells in their backyard, an expensive operation which also seriously affects the water table. Well drilling costs between 300,000 to 500,000 Iraqi dinars (US$236 to US$393) – an amount that many families cannot afford. The price rises depending on how deep they have to dig to hit water and on the soil quality.
The wrath of 2007: America’s great drought
The Independent – Independent – Jun 11, 2007
In the south-east, usually a lush, humid region, it is the driest few months since records began in 1895. California and Nevada, where burgeoning population centres co-exist with an often harsh, barren landscape, have seen less rain over the past year than at any time since 1924. The Sierra Nevada range, which straddles the two states, received only 27 per cent of its usual snowfall in winter, with immediate knock-on effects on water supplies for the populations of Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The human impact, for the moment, has been limited, certainly nothing compared to the great westward migration of Okies in the 1930 – the desperate march described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath. Big farmers are now well protected by government subsidies and emergency funds, and small farmers, some of whom are indeed struggling, have been slowly moving off the land for decades anyway. The most common inconvenience, for the moment, are restrictions on hosepipes and garden sprinklers in eastern cities. But the long-term implications are escaping nobody…
“But it’s happening now in the West. The data is telling us that we are in the middle of one of the first big indicators of climate change impacts in the continental United States. ” Across the West, farmers and city water consumers are locked in a perennial battle over water rights – one that the cities are slowly winning. Down the line, though, there are serious questions about how to keep showers and lawn sprinklers going in the retirement communities of Nevada and Arizona. Lake Powell, the reservoir on the upper Colorado River that helps provide water across a vast expanse of the West, has been less than half full for years, with little prospect of filling up in the foreseeable future. According to the NOAA’s recent report, the West can expect 10-20 per cent less rainfall by mid-century, which will increase air pollution in the cities, kill off trees and water-retaining giant cactus plants and shrink the available water supply by as much as 25 per cent. In the south-east, the crisis is immediate – and may be alleviated at any moment by the arrival of the tropical storm season.